{"id":1246,"date":"2015-01-14T19:49:30","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T00:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/herdwatching.com\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2015-01-14T19:49:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-15T00:49:30","slug":"how-gamergate-revealed-a-threat-and-saved-free-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/herdwatching.local\/2015\/01\/14\/how-gamergate-revealed-a-threat-and-saved-free-expression\/","title":{"rendered":"How #gamergate revealed a threat and saved free expression…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking at #gamergate<\/a> now one thing is clear – none of those in the “social justice” camp expect this kind of fight. They were not ready yet for open war, and it shows.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Background<\/h3>\n

The premise is simple: Over the last few decades what\u00a0we now call the #sjw movement has worked to acquire control not over specific institutions but discourse and social narrative generally.<\/p>\n

Like all groups that attempt to convince others to hand them power they do so by attempting to turn your better instincts against you.<\/em> Very few people support rape, hate women or are deeply racist… so accusing them of those things can have\u00a0a powerful effect on how they behave. While at the moment it is humorous to say “think of the children!” as an ironic reference to the overuse of that particular emotional lever we need to remember there was a time\u00a0before it was over-played when it had real impact.<\/p>\n

These are the tactics of emotion, not logic. Of fear, not reason.\u00a0They do not want to debate\u00a0about the issues, they want to create an atmosphere where people are reluctant\u00a0to debate at all… where their decrees are untouchable.<\/p>\n

Before they achieve this end they are vulnerable… if the hand that rewards and punishes moves too openly the target group (you) see the motion and rebels. Remember “the red menace” and McCarthyism\u00a0or\u00a0the “child satanic cult” scares of the 80’s?<\/p>\n

Tactics and\u00a0state of play<\/h3>\n

In order to control a group with their fear of accusation or associated guilt you must put yourself in a position where you are free to assign guilt and define those associations. In other times and places you might then aspire to religious or state authority but in modern American society you go after three core areas: academia<\/strong>, media<\/strong> and editorial<\/strong> (news).\u00a0Why these in particular?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They\u00a0are largely uninteresting to those with a strong logical or fact based worldview, and are thus comparatively open to corruption.<\/li>\n
  2. As media<\/strong> is the public face of social discussion, through\u00a0movies, books and articles then they can make it appear that their position is popular.<\/li>\n
  3. As forces in academia<\/strong>, particularly in non-STEM fields, they can publish studies, articles and journal papers that will be referenced later to lend the illusion of proof to their arguments.<\/li>\n
  4. As a force in the editorial<\/strong> world they can then bring the other two together, claiming both that they are voicing a popular demand for change and that their viewpoint has been “proven”.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Several prominent gaming journalists across America are part of a secret mailing list on which they discuss what to cover, what to ignore, and what approach their coverage should take to breaking news… – Milo Yiannopoulos (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    It has been working well for them.\u00a0In fact if you look more closely at the campus “rape” issue you see the entire playbook laid out.\u00a0Since they are strong in the academic world and\u00a0the related areas of government this is a perfect testing ground.<\/p>\n